On my Berkeley ballot, there are many choices to make. But there are no propositions, and most elections involve a Democratic incumbent running against no serious opposition from the left.
But there are a few really important elections! Most importantly, make sure to vote for Alameda County Sheriff and District Attorney.
I’m going to be honest. This election snuck up on me a bit. I’m doing my in-depth research less than a week from election day.
There are a whole bunch of elections where a non-god-awful Democratic incumbent is likely to sweep to victory. There is a Left Unity Slate of candidates from the Green Party and Peace and Freedom Parties. Some of them are probably better than the incumbents. None of them are going to be elected. I feel bad that I am not putting in the effort to research them, but in a rushed election where there are some important positions with open seats or realistic challengers, I’m putting my energy into researching seats where the outcome isn’t a forgone and not completely horrid conclusion. I eventually decided to vote for the LUS for several of them where I feel completely confident there is no way that the incumbent Democrat will not come in top two (eg, not for Insurance Commissioner). I’m also finding fewer resources for researching some of these seats than I’m used to; I am leaning on the League of Pissed Off Voters a fair amount for the non-East-Bay-specific positions.
Here’s my overall cheat sheet:
| what | my vote |
|---|---|
| Governor | Luis Rodriguez |
| Lieutenant Governor | Mohammad Arif |
| Secretary of State | Shirley Weber |
| Controller | Malia Cohen? |
| Treasurer | Meghann Adams? |
| Attorney General | Rob Bonta! |
| Insurance Commissioner | Marc Levine |
| State Board of Equalization, D2 | Sally Lieber! |
| Senator (full term) | ALEX PADILLA |
| Senator (partial term) | ALEX PADILLA |
| US Representative, D12 | BARBARA LEE |
| State Assembly, D14 | Buffy Wicks |
| Superior Court Judges | Yes to all? |
| State Superintendent of Public Instruction | Marco Amaral? |
| County Superintendent of Schools | Alysse Castro |
| County Assessor | Phong La |
| Auditor-Controller/Clerk-Recorder | meh |
| District Attorney | PAMELA PRICE |
| Sheriff/Coroner | YESENIA SANCHEZ |
| Treasurer/Tax Collector | meh |
Governor: Luis Rodriguez
Gavin Newsom is going to win this election. Heck, we just practiced this one last year. Luis Rodriguez is the Left Unity Slate candidate. I said last year I doubt I’d ever vote for Newsom in a primary and I’m sticking to that. Would be neat if he made it to the fall instead of the Republican, though unlikely.
Lieutenant Governor: Mohammad Arif
This is a pretty worthless position. Kounalakis is OK at it. She’ll make it to November. Arif seems fine too, I’ll vote for him.
Secretary of State: Shirley Weber
She seems like she’s been fine. Worth noting that she’s one of the few incumbents that te SF League of Pissed Off Voters endorsed over the Left Unity Slate candidate (Blenner).
Controller: Malia Cohen?
It seems like Galperin and Cohen would both be at least decent for this open seat. Interesting to see the League endorsement of Socal Galperin and similar LA groups endorsing SF’s Cohen (lost the links where I read that). I ended up going for Cohen. They both seem much better than Glazer, one of the most conservative Democrats in the state.
Treasurer: Meghann Adams?
Ma, the incumbent, does seem to have some scandals, though I haven’t researched them in depth. I haven’t had time to investigate the Left Unity Slate candidate Adams in depth, but I’m leaning towards voting for her anyway. I would assume that Ma will roll to victory anyway.
Attorney General: Rob Bonta!
Like Weber, any statewide incumbent Democrat that the League is excited about seems reasonable to me.
Insurance Commissioner: Marc Levine
Eh. I voted for Lara last time. I haven’t been following closely but it seems like he hasn’t been as good as hoped for. Not clear if Levine would be any better. Probably no point in voting for Left Unity Slate candidate Hrizi — if I really have a problem with the incumbent I should vote for the realistic challenger Levine? I ended up going for Levine, not with much excitement.
Board of Equaliation, 2nd District: Sally Lieber!
Another open seat with two realistic candidates. Alioto-Pier is a San Francisco moderate. While I haven’t heard of Sally Lieber before, a bit of research suggests she’s pretty great and also a viable candidate.
Senator (full and partial term): ALEX PADILLA
I liked him as Secretary of State and he’s been a good Senator so far. For technical reasons you have to vote for him both to finish out the term that ends next January and for the next term. Happy to do so.
US Representative, District 12: BARBARA LEE
There are better members of Congress, but not many.
State Assembly, District 14: Buffy Wicks
She’s running unopposed. I think she’s been doing a pretty good job anyway.
Superior Court Judges: Yes to all?
Three candidates for judgeships are running unopposed. I guess I’ll vote for them?
State Superintendant of Public Instruction: Marco Amaral?
This is another case of “somebody I was happy to vote for is getting meh ratings by folks who endorsed him last time”. Marco Amaral is his Left Unity Slate opponent. It doesn’t seem like there’s a well funded charter school advocate like last time; I went for Amaral but will probably feel fine voting for Thurmond in November.
County Superintendent of Schools: Alysse Castro
OK, this might be a real election. I’m going to admit that as a Berkeley Unified parent I’ve only been following the brouhaha around Oakland schools from a distance. Apparently Monroe, the incumbent, was involved in some messy expenditures of Covid relief money, and has been a major part of Oakland school closures. Castro is endorsed by the teacher’s unions and generally seems superior.
County Assessor: Phong La
Unopposed. Seemed fine when I voted for him last time.
Auditor-Controller/Clerk-Recorder: meh
I seem to recall not being excited about her last time but she’s unopposed. Leaving blank.
District Attorney: PAMELA PRICE
It’s a rare District Attorney election with no incumbent. There are four candidates. Jimmie Wilson is running on the platform of “all the cop unions endorse me”. He seems to be winning the lawn sign battle.
The two most attractive candidates to me are Pamela Price (who I voted for four years ago for the same position and who came in third for Oakland Mayor in 2018) and Seth Steward. Price is a civil rights attorney who has the boldest platform. Steward is a more wonkish type, who currently works for Oakland City Council member Dan Kalb (who I generally like). It would be great to see the two of them competing in November. (The SF Chronicle assumes Price will be one of the top two who makes it to November and endorses Steward.)
If I felt confident that Price would in fact be one of the top two, I’d maybe vote for Steward? But I’m not that confident. Price has my favorite platform and a high enough profile, and I’m pretty worried that this race may end up going to the “safety is a civil right” (ie, actual civil rights don’t matter) candidate. So I’m voting for Pamela Price.
Sheriff/Coronor: YESENIA SANCHEZ (JoAnn Walker is fine too)
Our current Sheriff Greg Ahern is the one Republican currently representing me. He’s pro-Trump and pro-ICE and has presided over awful conditions (especially in COVID) in our county jails.
It’s challenging to replace an incumbent sheriff in California. You can legally only run if you’re some kind of cop, and if you ever lose an election against the incumbent, well, your career is probably over.
So it’s exciting that we have two serious challengers to Ahern in this election. As far as I can tell with my limited research so far, they would both be better than him. As long as he doesn’t get 50% of the vote, there will be a general election in the fall where the top two candidates will run. So as long as you vote for somebody other than him, we’re in good shape.
I think I will be voting for Yesenia Sanchez. But JoAnn Walker is probably fine too. (It seems like Sanchez has more managerial experience but Walker perhaps has somewhat bolder policies. Of course, they’re both still cops.)
But the most important thing is to vote for one of the two non-Ahern candidates for sheriff.
Treasurer/Tax Collect: meh
Unopposed. Can’t find anything to make me excited about him one way or the otehr; may leave blank as irrelevant.